A (relatively) simple tool to replicate complex 2D motion with cranks and gears. It’s so smooth it made me sit upright so I could see the rotating ellipses better. The implications? You can 3D-print gears to create toys that move as naturally as you want them to. Yes, there’s a video demonstrating this.

And just for good measure, if you haven’t seen the game Disney Infinity, go take a look now. It’s probably unlike any video game you’ve seen before. (There’s Wikipedia, for those of you who want the quick read.)

It’s an interesting approach, clearly born out of academic studios. It requires access to a host of expensive, first-world things, namely a CNC machine, computers that can run SketchUp, and plywood of reliable quality. It’s an architecture student’s “raw materials”–chipboard and laser cutter–scaled up, and tasked with a noble mission. Honorable, but you have to wonder whether this is really an efficient way to bring housing to the masses. If you follow the production path from chopping down trees to making plywood, to CNC milling it, and then reassembling the whole thing into a house, it brings to mind making a casserole out of canned food.